Introduction to plasma physics

Definition of plasma
• Matter exists in three states – solids,

liquids and gases. In solids, the

constituent molecules, atoms, or ions do
not have any translatory motion. They
can only vibrate about the fixed positions
they occupy.
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 1
• In liquids, the molecules are relatively

free to move about with respect to each

other, though the motion is restricted due

to the cohesive forces (to the extent that

the liquids maintain a fixed volume).

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 2

• In gases, the atoms and molecules are free to
move about (subject to weak intermolecular
forces or Vander Wall’s forces).
• If we go beyond that and ionize atoms and
molecules, we get ionized gases. Here the
constituents are no longer electrically neutral
atoms and molecules, they are electrically
charged electrons and ions.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 3

• Because of their charged character, the

behavior of the gas changes drastically.

• Of course, there is an overall charge

neutrality, since there are approximately
equal numbers of positive and negative
charges in the gas. But in detail, the
charge character plays a crucial role.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 4

• About 99% of universe is in the plasma

state – we live in the 1% of the universe

in which plasmas do not occur naturally.

• Ionosphere, solar wind, Van Allen

radiation belts, interstellar hydrogen and
stellar interiors and atmospheres, are all
in the plasma state.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 5

• Any ionized gas cannot be called a

plasma – of course, there is always some

small degree of ionization in any gas.

• A plasma is a ‘quasineutral’ gas of

charged and neutral particles which

exhibits ‘collective behavior’.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 6

• The neutral molecules exert force on one
another through collisions, since there is
no electromagnetic force, and force of
gravity in negligible.
• Example: Macroscopic force generated
by loudspeaker, is transmitted through
collisions.
• However, in plasmas, the situation is
entirely different.
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 7
• Unlike the ordinary gases where atoms
and molecules move about as free
particles except when they are close
enough to collide with each other
(governed by weak intermolecular
forces), in the ionized gases, electrons and
ions influence each other through long
range Coulomb forces.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 8

• As a result, the gas exhibits a collective
behavior. If such a system is disturbed from its
equilibrium state, it will cause local
concentration of charge, and hence the electric
field.

• When that happens, oppositely charged

particles will rush towards the point of
concentration so as to shield the charge.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 9

• This shielding reduces the Coulomb

potential to what is called Debye potential

 x / D
given by   c e ,where c is the
Coulomb potential and D is the Debye

length, i.e. the size of the shield.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 10

• Obviously, there must exist enough
number of particles in the vicinity to
achieve this shielding.

• We say that the number of particles in

the Debye sphere must be large enough
4 3 
i.e. Nd >>>1. Evidently N d   D n,where
3 
“n” is the number density of the gas.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 11

• With these constraints, the ionized gas is

defined as a plasma. Thus plasma is a

quasi-neutral gas of electrons and ions

(plus possibly neutrals) which exhibits

collective behavior.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 12

• Since plasma exhibits characteristics which are
totally different from all the three states of
matter, it is regarded as a fourth state of
matter, though strictly speaking it is not true
since there is ‘no change of phase’ involved.
• A plasma can be produced by simply raising
the temperature of a substance until a
reasonably high degree of ionization is
obtained.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 13

 Plasmas can also be generated by
ionization process. There are many
methods of creating plasmas in the
laboratory and, depending on the
method, the plasma may have a high or
low density, high or low temperature, it
may be steady or transient, stable or
unstable and so on.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 14

 Plasma Parameters
• Two parameters characterize a plasma state:

number density ‘n’ and the temperature ‘T’.

• The right combination of ‘n’ and ‘T’ values

such that the concept of Debye potential

becomes meaningful, the size of the plasma is
much larger than D, and the number of
particles in the Debye sphere Nd is sufficiently
large etc., define a plasma.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 15

• Plasmas have a tremendous variation of both
density and temperature values.
• Plasma temperature is actually the average
kinetic energy of the plasma particles.
• Generally, for a gas in thermal equilibrium,
there are particles of different velocities
varying - to , and that the most probable
distribution of these velocities is of Maxwellian
type.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 16

• That is,  1 
exp   m 2 / KT , where
 2 
1
 m 2 is the kinetic energy of a
2
particle and KT is the temperature of the

gas in energy units, K being the

Boltzmann constant.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 17

• It is customary in plasma physics to write

temperature in units of energy.

• For known plasma system:

‘n’ varies over 28 orders of magnitude

from 106-1036 p/m3, and KT varies over 7

orders of magnitude form 0.1-106eV.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 18

• This is in contrast with ordinary states of
matter e.g., as we go from air to water, n
variation is over 3 orders of magnitude.
Occurrence of Plasma in Nature
• Now the question is: Does such a matter
exists in nature and if so, where? The
answer is: yes. Plasma does exist in
Nature.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 19

• Indeed it occurs everywhere in the
universe except in a very tiny portion
which includes our earth.
• About 99% of matter in the universe is a
plasma state.
• ‘Sun’ is such an example. Its interior as
well as its atmosphere are in plasma
state.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 20

• In the core of the sun, thermonuclear

reactions occur which are responsible for

about 90% of the sun’s energy. Similarly,
all other stars are examples of plasma
state.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 21

• And there are about 100 billion stars in
each galaxy and about a billion galaxies in
the universe.
• It may be noted in passing that life on
earth relies almost entirely on the sun’s
energy.
• Sun is a rich laboratory for plasma studies.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 22

• Sun also emits solar wind which is

streams of charged particles (electrons

and protons) traveling at 500 km/s into
the interstellar space, solar wind
encounters the earth’s magnetic field in
its path and distorts the shape and form
of the magnetosphere.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 23

• Some of these particles get trapped in the

earth's magnetic field forming what are

called Van Allen Radiation Belts (altitude
~12,000 km)

• Still some of the particles manage to

penetrate in the regions of earth’s magnetic
poles producing Auroral Displays.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 24

• Ionosphere is an example of plasma

around the earth at an altitude between

60km-500km and is due to ionization of

air molecules by ultraviolet radiation

from the sun. This region plays an

important role in radio communication.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 25

• Lighting discharge is an example of a
transient plasma produced by the flow of
a large current between a cloud and the
earth or between two clouds.
• It lasts for about 4-10 sec, and carries a
current of 10kA-100kA.
• It is generated as a result of charge
separation between a cloud and the earth
or between two clouds which establishes
large voltage difference.
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 26
 Plasma Applications
• Historically, early work with plasma in

the laboratory was done in the 1920’s.

• Research was inspired by the need to

develop vacuum tubes (diode valves) that

could carry large currents and therefore

had to be filled with ionized gases.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 27

• Gas discharges are employed in a variety

of scientific equipments commonly used

in the laboratories. Extensive use is done
for lighting purposes.

• Sodium Lamp with arc burning in

sodium vapours gives characteristic
yellow light.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 28

• Mercury Vapor Lamp radiates strongly in the

ultraviolet region. Ultraviolet radiation excites

fluorescent material on the surface of the tube to
produce visible light.

• Neon Lamps are used for special/ decoration

purposes, they are used in miniature sizes

for indicating purposes.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 29

• Similarly, neon lamps are also used at

high power where a red-colored source is

required e.g., in air field lightings, and in

long tubular shapes for advertisement/

decoration purposes – generally known

as Neon lighting.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 30

• Xenon lamps can make sources of high

intensity and good colour composition for

projection purposes in stage shows. They
are also used for flash tubes as applied in
photography where a transient discharge
is used to produce a short and very
intense light pulse.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 31

• Gas discharge is also employed in fast

switches and rectifiers for high currents.

• Thyratron is a switch filled with mercury

vapours or with rare gases usually argon
depending upon the requirement. For a
switch with high repetition rate,
hydrogen filled thyratron is used.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 32

• Ignitron is a fast switch for high currents
(100kA, megawatt) as compared to
thyratron. They are also used as rectifiers
for megawatt range.
• Spark Gap is another example of a
rugged, though crude, fast switch.
• Arc discharge is used for welding
purposes.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 33

• Plasma Processing of Materials: An
important technological and industrial
application of plasma is in the field of
processing of materials. That includes
plasma coating, thin film deposition and
surface treatment of materials so as to
improve surface properties using low
temperature plasma.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 34

• Plasma technologies are fast entering a
world market estimated at over $200
billion (B) per year.
• These include markets for coatings of
materials ($50B); waste processing
($50B); plasma electronics, including
plasma flat panel displays and high
power switches ($40B).

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 35

• Similarly, high performance
semiconductors and integrated circuits
($30B); high performance ceramics and
other applications (over $20B), including
deposition of polymer films in the
recording industry, such as ion
implantation for hardening of materials,
optical components and medical
applications.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 36

• Glow discharge is used as a medium for

pumping gas lasers like He-Ne, Ar, Kr,

CO2, HCN (hydrogen cyanide). For
example, in He-Ne laser, interactions
between electrons and helium atoms
produce excited helium atoms which are
metastable.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 37

• These atoms interact with Ne atoms to

produce excited neon atoms, then

interaction between photons and these

excited-Neon atoms provide photon

multiplication.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 38

• Even the solid state lasers such as Nd -

glass depends on plasma for their

operation. Flash lamps used for pumping
the lasers contain gas discharges.

• Although we often come across plasma in

gaseous state, it may also occur in other
states of matter.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 39

• The free electrons and holes in
semiconductors constitute a plasma
showing the same sort of oscillations and
instabilities as in a gaseous plasma.

• Certain liquids such as solutions of

sodium in ammonia have been found to
behave like plasma.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 40

• Nuclear Fusion is perhaps the most

celebrated example of plasma

applications. In a fusion process, light
nuclei fuse to from heavier nuclei
accompanied by energy production. For a
fusion process to take place, matter must
be in a plasma state.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 41

• Modern plasma physics had its beginning

around 1952, when the first hydrogen

bomb was tested - a manifestation of an
uncontrolled thermonuclear fusion.

• Since then, scientists have been trying to

achieve fusion reactions under controlled

conditions.
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 42
 Collective behaviour
• The neutral molecules exert force on one

another through collisions, since there is

no electromagnetic force and force of
gravity is negligible. A macroscopic force
such as sound waves from a loud speaker
are transmitted to individual atoms by
collisions.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 43

• However, in plasma, the situation is

entirely different. Plasmas have charged

particles. Local concentration of charges
may arise, which give rise to electric
fields.

• Motion of charges generates currents,

and hence magnetic fields.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 44

• These fields effect the motion of other

charges far away.

• Consider the effect of two slightly

charged regions of plasma separated by a

distance ‘r’, on each other.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 45

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 46
• Coulomb force between A and B
1
diminishes as 2 .
r

• However, for a given solid angle

 r 
  constant , the plasma volume
 r 

in B that can affect A increases as r3.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 47

• Therefore, the elements of plasma exert a

force on one another even at large

distances.

• It is this long – ranged Coulomb force

which enriches the field of study, known

as plasma physics.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 48

• The most interesting results concern ‘so –
called’ “collisionless” plasmas, in which
the long–ranged electromagnetic forces
are so much larger than the forces due to
ordinary local collisions, that the latter
can be neglected altogether.
• By ‘collective behavior’ we mean motions
that depend not only on local conditions,
but on the state of the plasma in remote
regions as well.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 49

 Concept of temperature
• A gas in thermal equilibrium has
particles of all velocities, and the most
probable distribution of these velocities is
known as the Maxwellian distribution.
• Consider a gas in which the particles can
move only in one dimension (a strong
magnetic field can constrain particles
only along the field lines).

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 50

• The one–dimensional Maxwellian
distribution is given by
1 2
 mu / KT
f u   Ae 2

where
‘f(u) du’ is the number of particles per
m3 with velocity between u and u + du.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 51

 1
mu 2 is K .E.
2
K is Boltzmann constant (1.38x10-23J/0K)

• The no. of particles per m3, is given by


n  f u  du.


• The constant ‘A’ is related to the density

1/ 2
‘n’ by  m 
A  n 
 2KT 
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 52
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 53
• The width of the distribution is

characterized by the constant ‘T’, called

temperature.

• To see the exact meaning of ‘T’, let us

compute the average K.E. of particles in

this distribution.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 54

 

 2 mu f u  du
1 2

E av  

 f u  du

 1
1  mu 2 / K T
 2 mu Ae
2 2
du
  1
 mu 2 / K T


 Ae 2
du

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 55

• Let us define  th  2 KT u
and y 
m  th


m th  y exp  y dy
1 3 2 2

2
E a  

 th  exp  y dy 2



Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 56

• The integral in the numerator is

integrateable by parts:

 ye 
  
1  y2  1  y2 
 y2
y dy   ye     e  dy

2    2 


1  y2
  e dy
2 

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 57

• Consider the integral:
  
I  e
2 x 2
dx  e y 2
dy    e  x2  y2 dx dy
  
in 2-D space. Transforming to cylindrical
coordinates, we have:

I  e r
rdr d  2  e r 2
2
2
rdr
0

 

 e r
d r   e r

2 2
2
0


Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 58

 
 I  e  x2
dx  


 

 
1/ 2

1/ 2

n   fˆ u du  A  
2 KT  2 m
 e d u  
mu / 2 KT

 

m    2 KT  
1/ 2
 2 KT 
 A.  .I
 m 
1/ 2
 m 
 A  n  x2 + y2 = r2

 2KT 
Element of area in rectangular coordinates =dx dy
Element of area in cylindrical coordinates = r dr d

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 59

 y x

 y2 2
 ye dy for
2 y dy  dx
x
1 x e 1  y2
  e dx    e
2 2 2

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 60

 
1
e
1  y2
m th
3
2
dy
Thus E a  2 

 th 

e
 y2
dy


1 1  2 KT  1
 m th  m
2
 KT
4 4  m  2

1
Thus the average kinetic energy is KT .
2

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 61

• We can extend this result to three

dimensions.

• Maxwell’s distribution is
1
 
 m u 2  2  w 2 / K T
f u, , w  A3e 2

3/ 2
 m 
where A3  n 
 2KT 

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 62

 • The average kinetic energy is


 / K T
  2
1
    
1 2 2 2

  
2 2 2 m u w
A3 m u w e 2
du dv dw
E a  
 
 12 m u 2  2  w2 / K T
  A e

3 du d dw

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 63

• This expression is symmetric in u, and

w, since a Maxwellian distribution is

isotropic.

• Consequently, each of the three terms in

the numerator are the same as the others.
We need only to evaluate the first term
and multiply by three.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 64

  m  2  2 / K T
 1 1
1  mu 2 / K T
3 A3  mu e 2
2
du   e 2 d dw
2
Eav  
 1
 mu 2 / K T
1
 
 m  2  2 / K T
A3  e 2
e 2
d dw


• Using our previous result, we have

3
E a  KT
2

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 65

• Therefore, the general result is:

1
Ea equals KT per degree of freedom.
2

• Since Ea and T are so closely related, it

is customary in plasma physics to give

temperatures in units of energy.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 66

• To avoid confusion on the number of

dimensions involved, it is not Ea but the

energy corresponding to KT that is used

to denote the temperature.

• For KT = 1eV = 1.6 x 10-19 joules

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 67

 1.6 1019 J 
T 
 11,600 K
 23
1.38 10 J /K
• Thus the conversion factor is

1eV = 11,600 0K.

• By 2eV plasma we mean that KT = 2eV

or Ea =3eV in three dimensions.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 68

• In a plasma, electrons and ions can have

separate Maxwellian distributions with

different temperatures Te and Ti.

• This is because the collision rate among

electrons or among ions themselves is
larger than the rate of collisions between
ions and electrons.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 69

• Each species can be in its own thermal

equilibrium but the plasma with two

temperatures may not last long enough,
and the two temperatures equalize.

• In the presence of magnetic field, even a

single species can have two

temperatures.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 70

 This is because the force acting on a
charged particles along B are different
form those acting  to B (due to Lorentz
force).
• Thus, the components of velocity  to B
and || to B may belong to different
Maxwellian distributions with
temperatures T and T || .

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 71

• High temperature does not necessarily
mean lot of heat e.g. electron temperature
in a fluorescent light tube is 20,000 0K.
• Of course, the heat capacity must also be
taken into account. The density of
electrons inside a fluorescent tube is much
less than that of a gas at atmospheric
pressure.
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 72
• Thus the total amount of heat transferred
to the wall by electrons striking it at their
thermal velocities is not that great.
• Many laboratory plasmas have
temperatures of the order of 1,000,000 0K
(100 eV) but at densities of 1018-1019 per
m3, the heating of the walls is not a
serious consideration.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 73

 Debye shielding

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 74

• Plasma has an interesting property.
When electric potentials are applied
inside a plasma or appear due to internal
charge bunching, these are shielded out
by the plasma itself.
• Let us try to introduce electric field
inside the plasma by inserting two
charged balls connected to a battery.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 75

• The balls would attract particles of

opposite change, and almost immediately,

a cloud of ions would surround the

negative ball and a could of electrons

would surround the positive ball.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 76

• We may assume that a layer of dielectric
keeps the plasma from actually
recombining on the surface, or the battery
is large enough that potential is
maintained besides recombination.
• If the plasma were cold and there were no
thermal motions, there would be just as
many charges in the cloud as in the ball
and the shielding would be perfect.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 77

• In the plasma, no electric field would be

present outside the cloud.

• If the temperature is finite, the particles

at the edge of the cloud have enough

thermal energy to escape form the

electrostatic potential well.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 78

• Then, the edge of the cloud occurs at the
radius where potential energy is
approximately equal to the thermal
energy KT of the particles, and the
shielding is not complete.
• Potentials of the order of KT/e can leak
into the plasma and cause finite electric
fields to exist there.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 79

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 80
• Let us try to calculate approximate
thickness of such a charge cloud.
• At a plane x = 0, a potential 0 is held by
a perfectly transparent grid. We wish to
compute (x).
• For simplicity, let us assume ion-
electrons mass ratio M/m is infinite, so
that ions do not move but form a uniform
background of positive charge.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 81

• To be more precise, M is large enough
m
that ions inertia prevents them moving on

the time scale of the experiment.

• Poisson equation in one dimension is:

2
  H  plasma
 0     0 2  eni  ne 
d
2
(1) 
dx  Z 1

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 82

• If we call the density far away form the
grid n, we have
ni = n
• In the presence of a potential energy q,
the electron distribution function is

 1  
f u   A exp   mu  q  / KTe 
2
(2)
 2  

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 83

• This equation means:

• There are few particles at the places

where the P.E. is large, since not all

particles have enough energy to get there.

For q = -e

ne(o) =n

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 84

• We have
 e 
ne  n exp 
 KT 
 (3)
 e 
• Using the value of ni and ne in equation (1),

d  2
  e  
0 2
 en exp    1
dx   KTe  
e
• In the region where  1, we can expand
KTe
the exponential in a Taylor series.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 85

 e
• Fortunately, the region where is
KTe
large, do not contribute much to the

thickness of the sheath.

d   e 2
1  e 
2

 0  en         
 KTe 2  KTe 
2
dx 

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 86

• Because the potential falls off very

rapidly, keeping only the linear term, we

have
d  2
n e 2
0 2
 
dx KTe

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 87

   0 KTe 
2
• Defining
D  
 ne 
2

• We obtain
d  2
1
 2 
dx 2
D
which has the solution of the form

  0 exp(  x / D )

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 88

• The quantity D, is called the Debye
length. It is a measure of the shielding
distance or thickness of the sheath.
• As expected D decreases with the
increase in plasma density and increases
with KTe.
• Without thermal agitation, the charge
would collapse to infinitely thin layer.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 89

• It is the electron temperature which
comes in the definition of D, because, the
electrons being more mobile than the
ions, do the shielding by moving so as to
create a deficit or surplus of negative
charge.
D = 69 (T/n) T in 0K
D = 7430 (KT/n) KT in eV

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 90

 Quasineutrality
• If the dimensions L of a system are much
larger than D, then whenever local
concentrations of charge arise or external
potentials are introduced into the system,
these are shielded out in a distance short
compared with L, leaving the bulk of the
plasma free of large electric potentials or
fields.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 91

• Outside the sheath, 2 is very small and ni
 ne, typically, better than one part in 106.
• It takes only a small charge imbalance to
give rise to potentials of the order of KT/e.
• The plasma is ‘quasineutral’, i.e. neutral
enough so that one can take ni  ne  n ; is
called plasma density, but not so neutral
that all the interesting electromagnetic
forces vanish.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 92

• A criterion for an ionized gas to be a
plasma is that it has to be dense enough
that D<<L.
• The concept of Debye shielding is valid
only if there are enough particles in the
charge cloud.
4 3
i.e. n ( D )  N D  1
3
Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 93
 Criteria for plasmas
• An ionized gas to be called a plasma,
must satisfy the following conditions:
i) D << L
ii) ND >>> 1

iii)  > 1

• The third condition is concerned with

collisions.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 94

• For example, a weakly ionized gas in a jet

exhaust, does not qualify as a plasma

because the charged particles collide so
frequently with neutral atoms that their
motion is controlled by ordinary
hydrodynamic forces rather than by
electromagnetic force.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 95

•  is the typical frequency of plasma oscillations

and  (=1/υ) is the mean time between collisions

with neutral atoms.

• We require > υ, or  > 1 for the gas to

behave like a plasma rather than a neutral gas.

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 96

For further reading
1. Chapter # 1 in: F.F.Chen, Introduction
to Plasma Physics, 1983 (Plenum).
2. Chapter # 1 in: J. A. Bittencourt,
Fundamentals of Plasma Physics, 2nd
Ed. 1999, National Insitute for Space
Research (INPE), Brazil.
3. Chapter # 1 in: Cold Plasma in Materials
Fabrication, by A. Grill, IEEE Press New
York (1994).

Expermental Plasma Physics (PH-709); Introduction 97